Alignment means for vibratory feeders



Sept. 27, 1966 G. J. GARDNER ALIGNMENT MEANS FOR VIBRATORY FEEDERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 25, 1964 Se t. 27, 1966 G. J. GARDNER ALIGNMENT MEANS FOR VIBRATORY FEEDERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1964 p 27, 1966 G. J. GARDNER 3,275,120

ALIGNMENT MEANS FOR VIBRATORY FEEDERS Filed May 25, 1964 5 Sheets-$heet 3 United States Patent 3 275 120 ALIGNMENT MEANS Foi: VIBRATORY FEEDERS George J. Gardner, Fairview, Pa., assignor to Automation Devices, Inc., Erie, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 25, 1964, Ser. No. 369,686

4 Claims. (Cl. 198-33) The present invention relates generally to equipment for the automatic handling of relatively small parts. In

particular, the invention is directed to means for providing a desired alignment of such parts,, even though the parts are received in a multiplicity j of different alignments. More particularly, the handling of very light parts is contemplated so that such parts can be positively oriented to permit rapid handling of the same for either packaging for shipment or for advancement to other automated equipment.

E The advance of automation, or the technique of doing automatically by machine what has heretofore been doneby manual labor and thus significantly reducing the cost of a given operation, has been applied to many phases of the electronic production and assembly industries. One component that is now widely produced by machine is the small resistor, having a resistive body portion and a ter minal on each of the ends of the body portion, the ter-.

minals being small caps having a small diameter lead wire attached thereto. These resistors vary in size and the terminals, that is, the caps, therefore, in some cases, vary from approximately ,6 to A of an inch in diameter and are approximately the same dimensions in length. The

terminals automatically and to align the same in a pr'edetermined fashion so that they may be fed automatically to other apparatus which may apply them to the resistive body portion.

In the past, several methods have been devised for handling these terminals, however, these methods require apparatus which involved a lot of steel work and tooling. The apparatus is therefore very expensive to build. Also, it is found that these apparatuses lack versatility as to the size of the terminals which they can carry, since eachof them are usually tooled to handle terminals having caps of a predetermined size.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a material handling system for accepting parts varying in size and with different alignments, and

for imparting a uniform alignment to each part and thereafter discharge each part in accordance with a desired alignment.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide such a system, especially suited for receiving terminals having small caps, of varying size, with lead wires connected thereto in random volume with the leads entangled, and for effectively sorting the terminals and aligning the terminals in a uniform manner so that they may be discharged for packaging or for utilization in other auto matic equipment.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a system which is much simpler in concept of tooling in comparison with those systems heretofore available.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide such a system which has far greater versatility than apparatus heretofore available in that it can handle terminals having any diameter and length caps and leads up to a predetermined length; f

Other objects of'the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1, is a perspective illustration of a material handling system constructed in accordance with the inventive principles; V

. FIG. 2 is a partial view of a vibratory bowl exemplary of the invention;

FIG. 3 is'a partial view of acvibratory bowl exemplary of theinvention, illustrating how the parts are initially thinned out before entering the track;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a vibratory bowl exemplary of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4, showing the tracks formed in the bowl;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 66 of FIG. 4 showing a different portion of the track of the bowl;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a bowl exemplary of the present invention illustrating the section of the bowl Whereat the parts are finally aligned;

FIG. 8 is a side plan view of the adjustable final aligner exemplary of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the adjustable final aligner; and

FIG. '10 is a sectional view taken along lines 10-10 of FIG. 7.

By way of orientation, in FIG. 1 a system constructed I in accordance with the inventive teaching is shown mounted on a Work table 10 which is supported on a base unit 12. The input feed system includes a hopper 14 and a vibnatory bowl arrangement 16, with the bowl -16 including a number of sub-units or components to be described Together, the hopper 14 and bowl 16 cooperate to receive incoming parts aligned in By the time that such parts approach the end of the feeding track or channel within bowl 16, all

in more detail hereinafter.

random manner.

preliminary alignment of the parts has been efiected in a general fore-and-aft manner, with either the head or the tail of each part being nearest the next component, an

' adjustable aliguer 18. A final alignment is made as the individual parts are fed onto the adjustable aligner 18, with those parts in a non-desired alignment being deflected back within the area of bowl '16. It is noted that the final alignment is achieved even though the head or the tail of the parts enter the adjustable aligner 18 first.v

For the purposes of this explanation, the various parts are illustrated as a plurality of terminals in the form of caps having a lead wire connected thereto. As may be best seen in FIG. 2, the cap portion is referenced by numeral 20, and the lead wire portion bynumeral 21.

After the parts are fed in random fashion and align-n ment through the hopper 14, they are dropped downwardly onto the lower surface 22 of the bowl 16. This bottom surface is conical, being highest in the center and iowest at the outer periphery thereof, as better depicted in FIG. 4. The bowl16 is agitated in a vibratory manner to feed the various parts outwardly from the center of bottom surface '22 to the outer periphery, and to etfect a clockwise movement of the parts, as reference to the showing of FIGS. 1 and 4. Accordingly, the individual parts are vibrated outwardly and in a clockwise direction to enter, at input location 24, upon the journey up a track or channel defined on the inner periphery of bowl 16. p The parts are initially thinned out before entering the' Patented Sept. 27, 1966' input -location24 of the track by means of a vane 26 secured within the bowl 16 in -a fashion such that it is positioned slightly above the base of the bowl -16, allowing only a small number of theparts to pass thereunder to the input location 24. 7

The parts are displaced along the initial portion 28 of this track, with the side walls 30 preventing the movement of the parts outwardly of track 28. Any parts inadvertently dropped over the inner edge of track 28 fall onto surface 22 of the bowl 16 and are gradually returned outwardly and, at input location 24, start up the track portion 28 for a second time.

After leaving the track section 28, the parts enter the next section 32 which is defined between wall 30 and a vane or guard rail 34, which vane increases gradually in height, as indicated in FIG..- 4. This section "of the track between the wall and vane 34 serves two principal functions. Any bunch or mass of parts which have managed to remain together while being fedovjersection 28 encounters the leading edge of the vane, and some of these parts are dumped downwardly onto the bottom surface 22 for subsequent re-entry into the feeding track. The remaining parts which continue to walk up the track and thereafter aligned in af oreaandaft direction, with either the cap or the lead wires connected thereto leading. Many parts reach the entrance to section 32 with the cap 20 of the part on the track and the lead wires 22 extending. outwardly over the track. As the lead wires encounter the gradually increased height of vane 34, the lead wires are deflected rearwardly so that the part is forced into the desired alignment.

alignment of the parts. Although the parts are dumped into the feeder bowl in random fashion and with a multi-.

tude of different alignments, after the parts pass vane '34 there are only two different alignments remaining, either the cap or the lead wires connected thereto leading.

After going through the preliminary alignment, the parts are fed along track section 36 upwardly, and are retained against outward displacement by the upper wall 37. It may be noted, in FIG. 5, that the tracks about the periphery of the bowl 16 are V-shaped and that a number of the partsmay simultaneously be walked up the track, one upon the other. The parts eventually reach a track section 38 which has the side wall of the V-shaped track nearest the center of the bowl 16 cut-away and sloped downwardly, -as may be best seen in FIG. 6. A riser 40 is secured to this downwardly sloped section of the track to provide a slight rise 41, which may be best seen in FIG. 6, which is only capable of supporting one of the parts. Therefore, the parts are further thinned out since only the parts which are supported by the riser 40 pass this point of the track, and the others are spilled back into the bowl 16.

After passing the track section 38, the parts are aligned in substantially a single file arrangement, with either the cap or the lead wires thereof leading. The parts are It is thus manifest that this. portion of the feeding system performs a preliminary,

her 60 which when positioned at the end of the track formed about the periphery of the bowl 16 constitute an 49 formed therein, and is secured by means of the screws then fed to the adjustable aligner 18 which includes a t itself to effect the requisite upward and outwardfeeding is not described or illustrated, inasmuch as such mechanisms, together with the bowl arrangement are well known in the art. The feeding structure is especially. suitable for-this type of part feeding because of the addition of the adjustable aligner 18 at the termination of the feeding channel.

The adjustable aligner 18, as may be best seen in FIGS. 7-10,,includes a fixed member 46 and an adjustable mem- 48 or the like passed through these apertures to the ledge 50 formed on the bowl 16. The elongated apertures 49 allow the fixed member 46 to be positioned with respect to the track formed about the periphery of the bowl so that the sloped end 52 thereof may be aligned with the sloped side of the track. A smooth continuous surface is therefore provided, and the parts may freelymove onto the adjustable aligner 18'.

The fixed member 46 is step-shaped and has two steps,

the upper step of which is partially cut-away in a sloped fashion to providea spill-way 56 for dumping parts back onto the surface 22 of the bowl 16 and to .provide anarrow rail 54 upon which the parts are supported, in a fashion to be described. The end of the fixed member is formed so as to, in effect, extend the rail 54 beyond the end thereof. The lower step of the fixed member also has a cut-away, sloped section 57 which aids in spilling the parts back into the bowl 16.

The adjsutable member 60 has an enlarged sloped end 53 and a rail 62 which extends longitudinally therefrom. The adjustable member ,60 is movably secured by means of screws 58 to the top edge of the side wall of the bowl L16, and is positioned Withrespectto the fixed member 46 so that the sloped end 53' in conjunction with the sloped end '52 of the fixed member46. constitutes an extension of the track about the periphery. of bowl 16 and the rail 62 in conjunction with the rail 54 of fixed member 46 forma track for supporting the partsfed to the adjustable aligner 18. The rail 62 also has a cut-away sloped section 59 forming a spill-way back into the bowl 16.

In operation, the parts, in this case, terminals having caps 20 and lead wires 21, are walked up the track about the periphery of the bowl 1'6 and are fed either with the cap '20 or the lead .wire 21 leading onto the extensionrof' the track formed by the sloped ends 52 and 53. When the ported and will fall between the rails 54 and 62. The caps 20 are supported by the track formed by the rails 54 and 62.

The parts, or terminals, are therefore supported ina vertical position upon the track, with the caps 20 riding on the rails 54 and 62 and the lead wires suspended between the rails 54 and 62, as may be best seen in FIG. 10. The terminals are advanced in this aligned position to the end of the aligner 18, whereat they may beengaged by apparatus or persons for package or advancement to other automated equipment.

The adjustable aligner '18 will handle terminals, or

similar parts, having various size caps 20 and/or lead wires 21 since the track, or slot, through which the lead wires fall and upon which the caps are supported can be made Wider or narrower by rotating the screws 58 either in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. Therefore,

for handling terminals having very small caps, the. track' islmade-suflicien-tlynarrow sothat the caps rest upon the rails 54 and 62. For caps havinglarge diameter lead wires, the track is made wider to handle the same merely by rotating the screws '58 in the .proper direction. I

It may also be noted that the adjustable aligner 18 may be adjusted to provide a skewed track so that the speed of advancement of the parts along the length of the track may be controlled. This is accomplished by adjusting'one or the other of the screws 58 to provide a track or slot which either progressively increases or decreases in width as the end of the track is reached. If the width of the slot is progressively decreased, the advancement of the parts will be slowed as they reach the end of the track since the side walls of the track will frietionally engage the parts and hence impede their progress.

The above-mentioned adjustments can be made while the unit is being operated, thus running adjustments may be made and there is no need to stop the unit each time difierent size parts are fed to the unit or when it is desired to change the speed of advancement. .The versatility pro- 'vided the handling system by the addition of the adjustable aligner 18 is therefore apparent. Furthermore, the construction of the adjustable aligner is relatively simple, and the handling system is much simpler in concept of tooling in comparison with the systems heretofore available.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method and in the construction set forth without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, .and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

What is claimed is:

1. Alignment means for a vibratory feeding device for vertically aligning parts, each of which includes a head portion and a tail portion, said feeding device having a ledge and an inclined track, said alignment means comprising a first member having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track, a portion which is step-shaped having an upper step thereof cut-away in a sloped fashion to provide a spill-way for parts and to provide a narrow rail, a pair of elongated apertures formed in said first member at each of its ends and fastening means extending through said elongated apertures for adjustably securing said first member to said ledge, and a second member having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track and a portion which is cut away to provide a narrow rail which together with said narrow rail on said first member define a track, fastening means for adjustably securing said second member to said feeding device, said second member being positionable to provide an adjustable slot between said pair of narrow rails for receiving and vertically aligning said parts with the tail portion thereof extending downwardly through said slot and said 'head portion riding on said track.

2. Alignment means for a vibratory feeding device for vertically aligning parts, each of which includes a head portion and a tail portion, said feeding device having an inclined track and means positioned along said track for aligning said parts in a preliminary manner with either said head portion or said tail portion leading, said alignment means comprising a first member having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track and a portion which is step-shaped having an upper step thereof cut-away in a sloped fashion to provide a spillway for parts and to provide a narrow rail, and a second member having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track and a portion which is cut away to provide a narrow rail which together with said narrow rail on said first member define a track, said second member being adjustably secured to said feeding device and positionable to provide an adjustable slot bealigning said parts in a preliminary manner with either i said head portion or said tail portion leading, said alignment means comprising a first member having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track and a portion which is step-shaped in which the steps thereof are cut-away in a sloped fashion to provide spill-ways for dumping parts back into said feeding device and to provide a narrow rail .along the top thereof, and a second member having a sloped portionrwhich constitutes an extension of said track and a portion which is cut away to provide a spill-way for dumping parts back intosaid feeding device and to provide a narrow rail along the top thereof which together with said narrow rail on said first member define a track, said second member being adjustably secured to a side wall of said bowl and positionable to provide an adjustable slot between said pair of narrow rails for receiving and vertically aligning said parts with the tail portion thereof extending downwardly through said slot and said head portion riding on said rails.

4. Alignment means for vibrator feeding devices for vertically aligning parts, each of which includes a head portion and a tail portion, said feeding device having a ledge, an inclined track and means positioned along said track for aligning said parts in a preliminary manner with either said head portion or said tail portion leading, said alignment means comprising a first member adjustably secured at its opposite ends to said ledge and having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track and aportion which is step-shaped having an upper step thereof cut-away in .a sloped fashion to provide a spill-way for parts and to provide a narrow rail, a second member adjustably secured to said feed-ing device and having a sloped portion which constitutes an extension of said track .and a portion which is cut away to provide a narrow rail which together with said narrow rail on said first member define a track, said first and second members being positionably adjustable with respect to one another to provide an adjustable slot between said pair of narrow rails for receiving and vertically aligning said parts with the tail port-ion thereof extend-ing downward-1y through said slot and said head portion riding on said rails tracks, andbeing further adjustable to provide a skewed track for controlling the speed of advancement of said parts along said track.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,065,319 12/1936 Lewis 22l- 168 2,770,352 11/ 1956 Moller 221--174 X 3,114,448 12/1963 Boris.

3,147,841 9/ 1964 Austin.

3,150,762 9/ 1964 Tricinci.

OTHER REFERENCES Hopper Feeding, by I. W. Philippovic, August 1962, V 

1. ALIGNMENT MEANS FOR A VIBRATORY FEEDING DEVICE FOR VERTICALLY ALIGNING PARTS, EACH OF WHICH INCLUDES A HEAD PORTION AND A TALL PORTION, SAID FEEDING DEVICE HAVING A LEDGE AND AN INCLINED TRACK, SAID ALIGNMENT MEANS COMPRISING A FIRST MEMBER HAVING A SLOPED PORTION WHICH CONSTITUTES AN EXTENSON OF SAID TRACK, A PORTION WHICH IS STEP-SHAPED HAVING AN UPPER STEP THERE CUT-AWAY IN A SLOPED FASHION TO PROVIDE A SPILL-WAY FOR PARTS AND A PROVIDE A NARROW RAIL, A PAIR OF ELONGATED APERTURES FORMED IN SAID FIRST MEMBER AT EACH OF ITS ENDS AND FASTENING MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID ELONGATED APERTURES FOR ADJUSTABLY SECURING SAID FIRST MEMBER TO SAID LEDGE, AND A SECOND MEMBER HAVING A SLOPED PORTION WHICH CONSTITUTES AN EXTENSION OF SAID TRACK AND A PORTION WHICH IS CUT AWAY TO PROVIDE A NARROW RAIL WHICH TOGETHER WITH SAID NARROW RAIL ON SAID FIRST MEMBER DEFINE A TRACK, FASTENING MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLY SECURING SAID SECOND MEMBER TO SAID FEEDING DEVICE, SAID SECOND MEMBER BEING POSITIONABLE TO PROVIDE AN ADJUSTABLE SLOT BETWEEN SAID PAIR OF NARROW RAILS FOR RECEIVING THE VERTICALLY ALIGNING SAID PARTS WITH THE TAIL PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID SLOT AND SAID HEAD PORTION RIDING ON SAID TRACK. 